1. Field of the Invention
The invention concerns a refillable pump dispensing container, especially for viscous flowable materials.
2. Related Art
Pump dispensing containers are convenient packages for delivering viscous flowable materials. Consumer products such as toothpaste have, for several years, been sold to some extent in pumps. These type of containers are, however, quite expensive. Typical of the art are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,123 (Spatz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,511,068 (Bossina) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,685,594 (Czech) which depend upon a one-way movable, spring-like diaphragm.
Environmental regulations are being considered concerning source reduction for packaging. Not only must the amount of packaging be reduced, but the type must be simplified for recycling purposes. For instance, there is a goal to form each package from a single material. Mixed plastics or plastic and metal combinations are undesirable. Even in the absence of government regulation, responsible business is interested in improving the environment.
A particular problem with commercial pumps such as described in the aforementioned patents is the necessity for a metal spring to be associated with an upward moving diaphragm. For purposes of recycling, elimination of the metal spring would be desirable.
Simple displacement pumps ordinarily do not require metal spring diaphragms; they are environmentally more friendly packages. Illustrations of such pumps are found in U.S. Pat. No. 2,085,446 (Philippe), U.S. Pat. No. 2,655,289 (Peal), U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,766 (White), U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,261 (White), U.S. Pat. No. 4,742,940 (Wilkinson) and French Patent 2,095,844 (Beecham Group Ltd.). These patents disclose pumps with an upper body containing a viscous flowable material and a lower body serving as a piston. Upon downward pressure on the upper body, the piston forces the viscous material upward and out through an orifice in the upper body.
The known displacement pumps still have one environmental problem which requires improvement. Simple displacement pumps up until now have not been refillable. Not only must the upper material-containing body but also the lower piston body be discarded upon exhaustion of the material to be dispensed. Consequently, a simple displacement pump is sought wherein the lower body could be reused thereby reducing the disposable amount of packaging.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a simple displacement pump capable, at least in part, of being reusable.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a simple displacement pump operable with a refill cartridge.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide a refill cartridge that can be used with a simple displacement pump.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a simple displacement pump which does not require any metal spring or metal parts.
These and other objects of the present invention will become more readily apparent from the following summary, drawings and detailed description.